MINSK, 18 January (BelTA) – President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has approved the state border security policy and border security efforts to be implemented in the Republic of Belarus in 2010, BelTA learnt from the presidential press service.
The President was informed on the operation of the border service in 2009 and the major tasks set for 2010. At present, apart from protecting the state border, the border service coordinates the implementation of the state border policy with the local authorities. The reformation of the border service is complete and there will not be any need for reforms within the next decade.
The President heard out a report on the situation on the Belarusian-Russian administrative border, the borders with the EU and Ukraine. Alexander Lukashenko expressed concern over the information coming from the Belarusian-Russian administrative border. “I am worried about the information that comes from the Belarusian-Russian border against the background of the formation of the Customs Union of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan. Contrary to our arrangements, the border control is being tightened. It is not ok when such things happen when we work on establishing the single customs territory and are members of the Union State,” Alexander Lukashenko said. He asked to check this information and report on the results.
Apart from that, the President asked to study separately the situation on the Belarus-Ukraine border, saying that it is the most troublesome part of the border. “It is not that we are worried about the situation on the Ukrainian border. It is just because there were more things to do there,” the Belarusian head of state said.
Belarus has started the preparations for the state border demarcation. The process will be launched once Belarus ratifies the treaty on the state border with Ukraine. Belarus completed the demarcation with the Baltic states (with Latvia on 18 February 2009 and with Lithuania on 19 June 2008).
The agreements on travels regulating travels of citizens of frontier regions with Lithuania, Latvia and Poland were considered at the meeting. According to the estimates once they are signed, passenger flow with these countries will increase. These agreements will enhance the attractiveness of Belarus for foreign tourists, give an impetus to the development of frontier regions of the country and eradicate extra red tape in the communication of people who have ethical roots or family abroad.
In 2009 alone some 3.5 million Belarusians crossed the Belarusian border crossing points at least once. Some 1.5 million of them went to the EU countries and around 2 million people to Ukraine. Despite the global financial crisis, the passenger and transport flow remained virtually at the level of 2008.
In 2009, the Belarus Border Committee itself and in cooperation with KGB, the Interior Ministry and the State Customs Committee seized material values to the tune of more than Br34.6 billion.
Some 515 border violators were detained in 2009, the same number as in 2008. The number of illegal transit migrants downed from 124 to 111 people. At the same time the number of detentions for the violation of the border legislation has increased significantly – from 4471 to 7184 people.
Last year the work on optimizing the border zone depth and simplifying border crossing rules was completed. About 2,000 permits a year to visit the border zone were issued earlier. More than 4,000 permits were issued in 2009. At the same time the level of the security remained the same and control over the stay of foreign citizens in border zones was ensured.
In 2009, the Belarus Border Committee developed cooperation both with border services of the neighboring countries and the Belarusian law-enforcement bodies. The Committee continued working on using more domestically-made equipment in the state border protection, developing the potential of the border service aviation.
The head of state also approved the setting up of the Border Service Institute in Belarus.
Source:law.by/
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